Excell

Nice job - a shame LotS is off the air.

Beautiful - great color, amazing tooling. I love seeing stuff like this - true art on top of the craft! Matt

Thanks for the kind comment, Serena!

Beautiful work - I love the richness you brought out in the piece. Really sharp. (And I have to love both your son's thrifty attitude and give you kudos for your familial support!) Matt

I just love the color and tooling work on the diary. Very intricate and flowing carving. Beautiful. Matt

A few pictures of a wedding gift I just finished for my Sister-in-Law and her Husband-To-Be. The finish was done in several layers to give the antique look. It is a collaborative piece - the artwork is mostly from my beautiful Wife - combined with art I adapted from a couple of Lora Irish's collections. (I wish I had the artistic talent my Wife has in her little finger!) The finished piece is 20"x16" to the edge of the celtic border. I haven't done any serious leatherwork for almost twenty years - this was a request, and quite the project to get my hand back in. I discovered that I missed it much more than I could ever have realized. (The people on this board have something to do with that, by the way - I found the board and started itching to pick up my swivel knife again. Thank you all.) Comments, suggestions encouraged. Thanks for taking the time to look! Matt

Beautiful old-world look. My daughter saw it and now she wants daddy to make her one like it. Thanks for sharing! Matt

Wow - great work. Definite carving talent there! Matt

Nice work. Love the texture work on the second box. Matt

Great work. It just looks smooth in every way. I really need to make a petal lifter - it just makes sooo much difference on leaf work. (I assume that is what you used.) I love how you located the holders in the corner instead of in the binding or center-edge where they are in the way. Beautiful job. Matt

Chess and leatherwork - two of my favorite things in the whole world! Love the texture between the border and the board - and the dye work. Great job! Matt

Looks terrific. Two questions - ok, I'm always full of questions, but two for now: What did you use for forms? Is that a cover on the original scabbard, or from "whole cloth" so to speak? Also, what finishes did you use? If it is not a cover for the original scabbard, what did you use for lining and finishing on the inside? I love the work!

Solve it, no, but I'm working on a project right now with similar knotting. (Which is one reason I'm so impressed with yours!) I went with a little wider knife work right at the overlaps and even tried a slight undercut to help bury the beveling work. Then (besides being super careful w/ the beveling) I have spent a lot of time with a modeling tool and a handmade carving tool a little like a pro-petal trying to keep the edges on the overlapping pieces sharp. I don't know how well it is turning out. I might post pics later if I don't screw it up too bad. . . Thanks again SO MUCH for sharing this piece. I showed the pictures to my wife, and now I know what I need to do before her birthday comes around. That piece is GORGEOUS.

Andy, Woah. I'm in awe. I love the closures for the side pockets. The coloring is great, too. When you tooled the front, did you bevel all the areas around the fine celtic lines before backgrounding? (Even into the backgrounded spaces?) It appears that the background lines are very clean - even in the tight spaces. Some of that really narrow lining work is killer to get right!

Ohh - I like it - nice start. Definitely gonna enjoy watching this one progress. Please keep adding photos as you go along!

That would be very appreciated when, and if, you have time. Thanks!

Absolutely Stunning. This forum does a great job of making realize how much I have to learn - and this is an example of exactly that. Time to go practice. How large is that carving? I really have trouble beveling fine work on celtic patterns. Did you use a modeling tool, beveling stamps, a combination? I would love to see this and the horse piece done as a tutorial for those of us who are trying to practice a similar style! Thanks for sharing!

That is absolutely gorgeous. I was planning out a pair of full-forearm bracers for my brother-in-law, and I can't help but stand in awe. (And take notes. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, and all that.) Can you still feel the decoration through the lining?

I love the mixture of backgrounding vs. just beveling in the skulls - adds a lot of interest. I'm in awe.

I know of a couple of people around here that make and sell leather masks (2-3 oz leather) that stiffen them by soaking the masks in a mixture of warm water and Elmer's (white) glue - about 1/4 cup or so for 2-3 gallons - before molding. They swear by that instead of commercial leather stiffeners. I've never tried it myself - but was planning to do so on a couple of tooled masks the kids want for next Halloween. Any leather chemists out there know if that would have detrimental long-term effects? As an aside: Wonderful site and forums! I am coming back to leather carving after a 10+ year hiatus and this has been a wonderful resource. I can tell that many of you have forgotten more about leathercraft than I have ever known. Thank you all for your insight.